If you’re weak-willed and trying to avoid sweets now that 2019 is in full swing, I highly recommend that you skip over my column this week.
Of course, if you know you’re going to be tasked with making or taking treats for any event this year, I also highly recommend saving this for later on.
For a recent family get together, I decided to whip these up, since I already had all the ingredients in my pantry and had enough shopping trips during the holidays to last me quite awhile.
They were snapped up pretty quickly, and even my one-year-old niece gave them her stamp of approval.
I found this recipe on the blog “Upstate Ramblings.” You can find it at https://www.upstateramblings.com/holiday-gingerbread-bars-popcorn/. I doubled the vanilla and spices in my version and used chocolate chips instead of M&Ms.
Gingerbread Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 9-by-13-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, molasses and egg together.
- Add in the flour, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and beat until the mixture is combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. It will be very thick. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top if you want them to really show up in the final product.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the bars cool before cutting them and store in an airtight container.
I honestly think these were even better after sitting overnight. They were soft and chewy, and the chocolate was a perfect pairing for the spices.
This is a recipe that will make its way into my recipe box for future use when I need to make something quick and delicious to share.
Or I won’t share them. Maybe I’ll start my resolutions in February.
This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 10, 2019.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.